It is known to package Easter eggs and other hollow confectionery items such as chocolate animals in a carton for display purposes. Known cartons for Easter eggs are typically shaped to enable a number of similar cartons to be stacked on a display shelf. Often the carton will take the form of a hollow tube of polygonal shape having four or more side wall regions which encircle the egg. The upper and lower ends of the carton may be at least partially closed. The external surface of the known cartons are typically printed on to carry information for the consumer and to make the packaging attractive. One or more of the side wall regions of the carton will often have a window to enable of the egg to be seen. The egg itself may also be wrapped in a foil or other material.
Due to the shape of the egg, it is usually necessary to provide one or more internal supports to hold the egg securely in the carton. This is to prevent the egg from moving about inside the carton and being damaged during transport and/or handling. Where the carton has one or more windows, the egg is held in a suitable position for viewing.
Recently, it has become popular to package Easter eggs together with other, secondary confectionery items such as a bag of sweets or chocolates or one or more chocolate bars or with a toy or other gift. These secondary items are often accommodated within the carton and must held in position so as not to move about and damage the egg during transit and/or handling.
Known Easter egg cartons are often formed from a blank of stiff but foldable material, such as cardboard, paperboard, carton board and the like. Where a secondary item is to be packaged within the carton, it is known to provide a separate insert which is located in the carton to act as a support for the egg and which is provided with one or more recesses for receiving and holding a secondary confectionery item. The inserts may be made of card or plastic, for example.
Packaging of Easter eggs is a largely automated process carried out by machinery arranged to form a carton from a blank and to insert the egg and any secondary items into the carton at an appropriate stage in the process. The use of a separate insert to support the egg and to hold any secondary confectionery adds to the complexity of the overall packaging process. In addition, there is increasing pressure on manufactures to reduce the amount of packaging used.
In an alternative arrangement, GB 2 235 434 A discloses a carton for an Easter egg formed from a blank of foldable material. The carton has a display window and part of the blank where the window opening is defined is formed to produce a pocket for housing an ancillary article. Whilst this arrangement avoids the need for a separate insert for holding a secondary item, it results in a pocket which is at least partially open to the exterior of the carton through the window.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome, or at least mitigate, some or all of the disadvantages of the known cartons for packaging a main product together with a secondary item.
It is a particular object of the present invention to overcome, or at least mitigate, some or all of the disadvantages of the known cartons for packaging an Easter egg together with a secondary item.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved or alternative blank for forming a carton for packaging a main product and at least one secondary item.
It is a further object of the invention to provide improved or alternative methods of forming an filling a carton for packaging a main product and at least one secondary item which overcome, or at least mitigate, some or all of the disadvantages of the known of methods